Z waited, dropping the sheepskin coat at her feet. With the high temperature required here and the sheer exercise of intensive nursing, small wonder the staff were lean as whippets. Eventually Alyson was free to take her through to the kitchen and switch on the kettle for tea.
âIt's all in here,' Z told her, handing over the envelope, âbut my boss overheard and wants to know about the missing carer.'
âOh, Sheena!' Alyson sounded disgusted. âHer mother thinks she's gone off with some man friend. Not that she has a name for him.'
âSo when did she disappear?'
âIt must have been Sunday night. I haven't seen her since I handed over to her that afternoon. And Ramón was to follow her, taking on the first half of my night duty with Emily, from eight. I had a dinner date.'
âAnd nobody has any idea who the man friend is?'
Alyson hesitated. âIt's possible Ramón may know something. It was Sheena who introduced him here in the first place. Otherwise I've no contact. Actually, as far as I'm concerned Sheena's no great loss â if Ramón turns out to be legit. That's my main concern. I must have someone reliable for Emily.'
âAnd for yourself, if he's to live in. Mind if I have a word with him? Just about Sheena.'
âGo ahead. He's with Emily right now. Only don't scare him off, or I'll really be in a hole.'
âI needn't mention I'm police. Thanks, Alyson. Maybe we can meet up for a drink sometime?'
âI'd like that. I'm not sure I should ask, but have you got anywhere about Micky?'
âIt's early days yet, but we're hopeful.' She would have liked to say more, but real proof was still lacking. It depended now on what IT experts could extract from computers at the warehouse.
Â
Ramón had not been warned to expect visitors. He frowned at the monitor that showed a young woman looking up directly at the entrance camera. She appeared respectable, bare-headed, with a cap of soft brown curls; dark eyes; really pretty. She stood hugging a silver-grey sheepskin coat to her against the cold wind. âWho, please?' he demanded through the intercom.
âI'm Rosemary, a friend of Nurse Alyson Orme's. She said I could ask you about Sheena.'
âSheena not here. I not knowing where.'
âLook, we're a bit worried about her. Can I come up and talk?'
âI suppose.' He sounded doubtful, but she heard the lock click as it was released. When she took the lift up to the penthouse she found him already waiting at the apartment door. He waved her through to the lounge where she found Emily in her wheelchair, seated by the huge window and watching cloud shadows racing over the distant hills.
âMiss Rosemary, Miss Emily,' he introduced them.
The old lady surprised her by shooting out a bony hand to be shaken. Z took it gently and smiled.
After a short pause she said, âRamón, how can I find out who this man is that Sheena has gone off with? Surely you have some idea.'
He shook his head. âPerhaps â¦'
âYes?'
âPerhaps you ask her friend. Name is Roseanne, in bar at Crown hotel. Where Sheena drink.'
âRight. I'll do that. Thank you, Ramón.' She rose from the chair beside the old lady.
âCome â¦' Emily enunciated clearly, â â¦again.'
âI'd like that, thank you. I will.' This was the patient Alyson had said seldom ever spoke. Z smiled at Ramón as he saw her to the door. âYou seem to be giving your patient new confidence.'
âMiss Emily is lovely lady,' he said, and bowed as he closed the door on her.
There was a brief moment when PC Higgins confronted near-death. While the outer world froze, his mind leapt into infinity. Without his relatively short and uneventful life passing before his eyes, yet there was time enough to ask himself,
Poor Mum, who'll see to her �
Then basic training kicked in. Survival in a small hand-held radio. He waved it between himself and his destroyer. âBack-up!' he croaked, then remembered to identify himself. The response from Control was level and totally relaxed.
Higgins gulped. Whatever else, he had to leave some lead behind for them. âCar check!' and he gabbled off the licence plate figures.
They could be false, of course, but at least he'd tried. And still the threatening hulk in black leather had made no move, except to lean forward and peer at the blood-caked corner of the tartan rug.
PC Higgins retreated two paces. When ordered out, the man had switched off the engine, but the keys were still there. Higgins edged round to the driver's open window, reached in and pocketed them.
âListen, son,' said the old and infinitely wise metallic voice in his ear, âthere's procedure to follow.' He gulped; desperately searched his brain. And complied.
âWhat the fucking hell?' the accosted driver demanded, eyes still focused on the rug and almost echoing Higgins's own first reaction.
âHow the bloody blazes did that get on it?' But his belligerence was on the way out, as he recalled Sheena's bloodied face before he dumped her. She had floundered back on the rug, a quivering lump like a distressed, beached whale, hugging it to her.
âHot cocoa, that's what!' he blustered. âGod, for a minute I thought it was blood. We took a picnic. Up to Halton ridge. Only it was too blasted cold so we got back inside.'
But by now PC Higgins's partner had abandoned the fuggy warmth of their patrol car and wandered round to see what the
kid was getting so excited about. She lifted the rug from the open boot and ran an exploratory hand over the stain. A small chip flaked off as she scratched at it with a fingernail. âWhat's all this, then?' She sounded unfazed.
A crackle from Higgins's radio prefaced the information he'd demanded. The car was registered to an Oliver Markham with a local address. It had not been reported stolen. Did PC Higgins still require back-up as first requested?
âI think,' Higgins said faintly, âyou'd better deal with this one,' and surrendered his radio to WPC Trish Carter.
Â
Superintendent Yeadings had despaired of the accumulated paperwork and taken a turn round the corridors. He fetched up at the door of the CID office. Both his sergeants were there, and DI Salmon was perched on the edge of Beaumont's desk running through witnesses' statements before they were committed to the computer or the bin.
âNothing that could be connected with Allbright, then,' he summed up. âUnless he's the shadowy figure, sex unknown, who was deep in conversation with a kid on a bench by the boathouses a week last Wednesday. Or it may have been Thursday.' His voice was heavy with sarcasm.
âIt's all we've got,' Beaumont reminded him. âIt was a school day, so it could have been Micky.'
âOr any local kid skiving off lessons. So can we assume the Kane boy hadn't arrived here until just before he was picked up?'
Perhaps he was content to shrug off the missing days as the Met's responsibility, Yeadings thought. âHave we nothing yet on how young Micky travelled?' he asked, making his silent approach known to them.
Salmon looked round at the sound of his voice. âInfo's thin on the ground, sir,' he complained. âNot many folk on foot in this weather, and road conditions are enough for drivers to keep focused.'
âMaybe there was nothing for anyone to see,' Yeadings suggested. âIf we can assume Micky did as “Hutch” recommended, and contacted him by land line, they'd have made some arrangement for a pick-up. Most probably by the famed Harley-Davidson.
The meeting could have been outside our area, and he'd be delivered straight to wherever he was to stay over.'
âAllbright's house,' Salmon said decisively.
âWell, his gear was left there,' Z put in, âbut we don't know he was there in person. SOCO haven't been able to pick up any dabs or hair samples.'
âAnd neighbours questioned about Allbright's comings and goings by bike haven't noticed any pillion passenger,' Beaumont added. âSo he used the car, or else â¦'
â â¦the boy was taken somewhere else entirely. Which has to be the warehouse. The “Hutch” computer will have to turn up there if we go on searching long enough.' Salmon was grimly hanging on to this belief.
âI don't think he could have taken him there directly,' Z objected. âMicky left home as if to go to school. At about eight-thirty. If he knew already where he'd be heading, he wouldn't have wasted any time getting there, because I'm convinced he never meant to spend a night away.
âBecause Allbright's a night-worker, he had the morning free to pick Micky up. He wouldn't have taken him any place that was buzzing with activity and where everyone knew him. So not the warehouse. He must have some hideaway we haven't discovered yet.'
âOr â ' Beaumont felt he was scraping the bottom of the scenario barrel here â âhe took the boy joyriding until he was due to go on duty, and then slipped him in after day shift but before the night staff were due. We know he holds a key to the warehouse.'
âAnd if Micky wasn't willing,' Yeadings said sombrely, âthat's when recourse was had to the cocktail of drugs. But for how long was he held like that?'
They all sat considering this. âAn overdose,' Beaumont muttered. âSo maybe Allbright (or whoever) hadn't much experience of the quantities to use â¦'
âOr was just unlucky.' That was from Zyczynski.
âOr it was meant to be final,' Salmon decided. âJust as it was later, bashing his head in and chucking him in the river.'
Yeadings sighed, shifting his weight from one foot to the
other. âWell, if anything comes up, I'm in my office.' He left them to it.
Â
In the canteen Higgins felt his ears burn as he queued with a tray, despatched for two teas, an almond Danish and a jam doughnut. Back at the table he heard their raucous laughter. He was the fool of the day. Never a slip until now, apart from the ribbing he'd received over carrying the ambiguous message to Inspector Ruby Winter, (and that was mild as initiations went). But now, expecting to bring in the local court usher on a charge of suspected GBH! That was priceless and he'd never live it down. As long as there were coppers on the beat the story would circulate and his name go down as a terrible warning to probationers who got above themselves and thought they were CID.
Â
DS Rosemary Zyczynski was discouraged. The case was going nowhere, bogged down by lack of proof. She had no doubt it was Allbright they were after, but he seemed to be several paces ahead of the team. She stood on the kerb, letting the wind blow through her hair, but still mentally pent up in the office and wishing Max was here so they could go striding up the Chilterns and get some clean air pumping through their lungs.
But exercise was no fun on one's own, and it was another three days before her weekly aerobics class.
If
she was free to join it. Salmon had a way of sending her off on some wild goose chase whenever it came around.
She turned at the sound of footfalls behind her. âFancy a jar?' Beaumont invited, halting alongside.
It wasn't what she longed for, but, âWhy not?'
The Crown was their nearest pub; not the best, but she remembered then the name Roseanne, given her by the male carer Alyson had taken on. With any luck they'd find her on bar duty.
There were fewer than a dozen drinkers in there. The two sergeants settled on stools in front of the mirrored array of bottles. âMy shout,' Beaumont claimed.
âThanks. I'd like a half of lager.'
The woman who served their drinks was slim, a hennaed redhead with an upturned tip to her nose and upper lip, revealing
two long, rabbity incisors.
âWould you be Roseanne?' Z asked when there was a lull in serving.
âThat rather depends on who's asking.' She darted a shrewd glance at Beaumont. âYou're a plain-clothes copper, aren't you? I've seen you around the courthouse. So what am I supposed to have done wrong?'
âNothing. We just wondered if you could tell us something about one of your regulars.'
âAnd lose their goodwill, not to mention their custom?' She grinned along with the warning.
âSheena Judd,' Z prompted. âWe understand she drops in here from time to time.'
âSheena, yes. I know her quite well. She's a neighbour, actually. What's wrong?' She leant matily over the counter towards them.
âNothing that we know of. It's more her boyfriend we're curious about.'
âWho would that be, then?'
âWe thought you could tell us that.'
She regarded them both with her head on one side, her left hand reaching for a straying lock of hair which she absently laid over her upper lip like a moustache, then put its tip between her teeth. She shook her head.
âLook, I really can't help. Truth of the matter is, she's a sort of loner. Bit of a sad case, poor Sheena. Married the wrong bloke, got divorced, and then rather let herself go, if you know what I mean. Not that she wouldn't welcome a spot of nooky if she got half a chance. But she won't make much of an effort to set herself up, like.'
Not very much help, Zyczynski decided, sipping at her lager which was warm and smelled smoky, like the bar itself.
âMind you,' and Roseanne broke off to mop up a puddle of spilt beer with a red-checked towel, âI won't say she didn't fancy someone. But whether he picked up on it or not I couldn't say. You can't easily tell with orientals, can you?'
âInscrutable,' Beaumont agreed, nodding like a mandarin doll himself.
âThat's what I mean.'
âRamón?' Z asked, to be utterly certain; ââ who used to work here?'
âYeah. Nice bloke, a bit quiet. Got on all right with the customers, for all that. He's got a job as a nurse somewhere local, I was told. I doubt we'll see him in here again. Doesn't drink, see, except lemonade.'
âWhat goes around comes around, it seems,' Rosemary commented when Roseanne had moved off to serve a table with baguettes and tomato soup. We're back where we started. It was Ramón who put us on to Roseanne, who points us back to him. But if he's still looking after old Emily he's obviously not riding off into the sunset with his inamorata.'
âIn amorwhatsit? Cor, how she do go on!' Beaumont complained in a Monty Python voice. âDrink up, girl, and let's get out of here. There are better drinks to swallow, at better watering holes.'
âNot for me, thanks. But next time it'll be my shout. I think I'll get home. Today's been rather a waste of effort all round, to my mind. I'd hoped we'd make some progress.'
Â
Alyson Orme sat hugging a mug of coffee. There was a rare lull in activity in ITU, allowing her mind to orbit other worlds: particularly the dining room of an Italian restaurant fifteen miles outside town. It should have been called The Subfusc, but the well-spaced tables stood out against the gloom, having crisp white under-cloths topped diagonally by pink linen. Not shocking pink; more flirty pink. And with pink-shaded lamps instead of candles.
Things she seemed not to have observed at the time came back distinctly to her now: Keith facing her, dark-suited and formal, unlike how she normally saw him. She wondered if her own appearance had seemed strange to him, out of uniform or the casual T-shirt and jeans she wore at home.
It was strange how people dressed themselves up for special occasions. As though they took on a carapace, had something to conceal. Well, she had. Not that it was shameful, simply inappropriate: loving Keith when he was powerless to respond. Waiting
for someone to die, when both were dedicated to saving life.
Audrey, she thought. How awful it would be if she guessed. That, on top of everything else!
Â
She hung on to the basin as the spasms ran through her. Keith was rapping on the door, but it was locked and she was safe from him. There was nothing left to come up but bitter, thin liquid, yet it hurt like hell, all through her body.
âAudrey, let me in,' he pleaded. âDon't shut me out like this. We need to be together.'
Together. When were they ever that? Only in photographs. And they say the camera doesn't lie! That bloody wedding shot, all radiance and white satin; the groom dressed up like a fucking tailor's dummy. Lies, all lies. When had there ever been truth between them?